Monique's Brother Apologises for Molestation

On Monday 19th April, Mo'nique's brother Gerald Imes appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show to apologise for molesting her as a child. Monique revealed this shocking truth two years ago.

Upon watching this clip what struck me was how mechanical and robotic he came across. It begs the question - Is he really sorry? Or is he just looking for fame and money? - especially as Mo'nique recently won an Oscar for her performance in Precious. The film storyline, ironically, is based on the eponymous character who suffers molestation by an older male family member.

Is he sorry? Or is there a hidden agenda? Wanna hear your thoughts..

Fum

Career Tug-o-War: Migrant Parents vs. First-Generation Born

When i watched this it REALLY made me laugh. It reminded me so much of a slightly exaggerated relationship between my mother, me and the various schools I have attended whilst growing up. Ironically, the little girl's name is "Funmi" too! It felt like Lenny Henry has been watching me grow up and has gathered actors to play out what he's seen! Or has he really? No. Watching this made me realise that I am not the only First-Generation Black Briton to be at odds with my parents in terms of Education/Career.

I am 21 and I confess it wasn't up until a month ago that I stood my ground to my mother about what career path I had chosen for myself! Since entering university, my mum has been pushing me to become a Lawyer. I was 17 when I first looked at the UCAS home page wide-eyed with a blank expression on my face wondering what course to do at university. December 2004, when I was 16, is when I first decided I might possibly become a journalist. I told my mum back then but being young at the time - she didn't take me seriously. I had this "media thing" at the back of my mind so I decided to take English at university. I was pretty good at it in school and was flourishing at A-level so i thought why not?

If I am honest, I don't even remember when the pressure from my parents to do Law began. I know it was sometime during the course of university. Possibly sometime between second year and third year. All I know is that the pressure seemed to creep up on me, mount up and consume me. Consume me to the point where it was Bye Bye Media and a robotic and puppet-like Hello to Law. I attended countless Law fairs and visited numerous big Law firms. The smell of money was enticing but not enticing enough to silence the call to enter the Media at the back of my head.

So i have finally told my mum. It took A LOT of courage. I even needed pep talk from a selection of friends who I knew had the oratory skills to gear me up! It wasn't easy. In fact.... she cried... begged me to do Law.

These are my mothers reasons for doing Law:

• "Safe option". Safe in the sense that I have learnt a profession (almost like learning a trade). She says I can take it anywhere in the country with me because it is the same practice wherever I go. In fact, I can even set up my own practice.
• Learn the profession then I can do anything I want afterwards (i.e. I can go into the Media once I have finished Law).
• Good money

I had to let her know that this was wishful thinking and that the reality is more grim than she thinks.

"Setting up my own practice" is gonna cost a hell of a lot of money. Not only that but law school itself! Is a lot of money! £25,000 to be exact! If I'm going to spend that amount of money, I have to be sure that this is what I want to do - and I wasn't - hence why I began to brake before I crashed head first into career disaster.

By the time I actually qualify as a solicitor/barrister I will be no younger than 26 but realistically 28. If the latter is the case, having a career change at that point in a females life is not good. Employers will see you as indecisive. At that age you want to begin to set up or establish your family but you can't because you're in the middle of completely changing industries! You're probably going to go into MORE debt because you have to obtain an extra qualification to enter the new industry you have chosen. *sighs* The very thought of it makes me tired!

Good money?! Do not be fooled. If there is something I have learnt from all those law fairs and speaking with countless lawyers it's this: Only the small percentage of graduates get the big training contracts in the city which lead to the "good money" my mum is talking about. Even then, the city law firms like to be politically correct and choose not to mention on their recruitment websites that you have to be smoking-hot off the press from Oxbridge. Even then, you still might not get a training contract!

Aside from all these reasons, for me a career in Law just never was on the radar. Actually, it was, when i was about 7! My "cool aunty" was a high flying lawyer shopping in Harrods and Selfridges and I wanted to be like her. But that soon wore off.

So yes, when it comes to choice of career, it is a Tug-o-War between your migrant parents and you who was born and brought up here in the UK. I had to explain to my mum that things had changed since she entered Britain. Opportunities that were once closed to them are now open to us. So therefore there is no need to dwell on the doctrine that Mahlete-Tsigé Getachew in her essay 'Enter The Professionals' called "The Holy Trinity of Doctor-Lawyer-Engineer". There are other professions that are open to Black British people.

The journalist Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa called First-Generation Borns as a "pioneering generation" and we really are. There are so many opportunities in a western world that are available to us and wouldn't have been if we were still in Africa or the Caribbean.

So i just want to encourage people who are suffering this same Tug-o-War with their parents like me to pause, think, then act. Research about what you REALLY want to do. But also research what your parents are suggesting - you never know, what they are suggesting might really be the career for you. Think about how you might feel doing a particular career for the next 50 or so years of your life. Would you be happy? Will it serve to produce the kind of lifestyle you want? E.g. There's no point saying you want to be a journalist if you want to make a million by the time you're 25.

One thing i really want to suggest is understand where your parents are coming from. They are coming from a culture where you must beat everyone in your class and please the family even if it means sacrificing their own happiness.

If you're going through or can identify with this Tug-o-war leave a comment. Or perhaps you disagree with me? - leave a comment. I'd really like to hear your thoughts..

Fum

B-ELECTION 2010 (The Young Black Vote): Live Television Event Aftermath

So there we have it. History was made on Thursday 15th April 2010. A Live Debate between the heads of the three major political parties took place. I was very excited and anticipated it a great deal. I'm pleased to say that my anticipation was not disappointed. I anticipated a showdown and a showdown it was!

I just want to briefly give my thoughts on this moment in history. Not only is it momentus in history but it is also momentus in my life because I have changed my vote!

Opening Statement:


Labour: Economy and "making the right decision" was at the heart of Gordon Brown's speech. He added a little sidenote not saying that "i know what this job entails" - showing that the other two, Cameron and Clegg, just do not have the experience to hit the ground running like he will.


Conservatives: I feel that he tried to empathise with the British Public by opening with the fact that the politians let the British public down because of the MP's expenses saga. "Change" was the crux of his speech... sounds very familiar... Obama?


Liberal Democrats: "Difference", "Alternative", "Open Politics". These are all soundbites from Nick Clegg's open statement and those three words pretty much sum it up.

OPENING STATEMENT VERDICT: Liberal Democrats




Round 1 - IMMIGRATION:

Labour: To control and manage immigration. Points system - no unskilled worker can come in from outside of European Union. 40,000 less students expected this year because of a tightning of visa-controls, ID cards for foreign nationals.

Conservatives: Propose a limit on immigration (cap-system) of people coming outside the EU as well as a transitional system so that they do not all come once. Proposes Border Police Force.

Lib Dems: Restore exit controls. Proposes regional approach to immigration - skilled workers only allowed to work in parts of the country that require their skills.


VERDICT: Lib Dems




Round 2 - CRIME/LAW & ORDER

Labour: 80% of police time on street, parents should take responsibility for youth, the right to take injunction on police if they are not doing well, voluntary service for young people, maintain number of police staff.

Conservatives: Less paperwork and police out on the streets for a longer time, longer sentences, drug addicts to get over drug addictions.

Liberal Democrats: More police out on the streets, targeting the youth to move away from low-level behaviour.

(Question over public services - question over whether conservatives will cut funding in public services)


VERDICT: Liberal Democrats/Labour




Round 3 - MP's Expenses/Trust in MP's:


Labour: The Constituents Right of Recall (sack MP), Reform House of Commons - MP elected by 50% of the vote, Reform of House of Lords (non-hereditary - elected instead and accountable). Smaller House of Lords - reduce by 50%.

Conservatives: Value for money politics - cut Whitehall by a 1/3 (cut number of MP's).

Liberal Democrats: Ability to sack MP, clean up of politics, fundamental reform of House of Lords.


VERDICT: Labour/Liberal Democrats



Round 4 - EDUCATION


Labour - teachers with better qualification, education will be part time or full time up until 18, no finance cutting in this sector - keep teachers and teaching assistants.

Conservative - more money into the school, external marking, discipline in schools, cut waste.

Liberal Democrats - "Let Teachers Tteach - Education Freedom Act (Government can't control what happens in schools), discipline, creativity - Smaller class sizes - do this by additional resources.


VERDICT: Liberal Democrats


Round 5: Budget


Labour: do not want to take out 6 billion pounds out of the economy - jobs and businesses at risk.

Conservative: save 6 billion pounds in coming year - cutting "waste", avoiding job tax proposed by labour

Liberal Democrats: honest and open approach, save 15 billion pounds, ending tax credits for top 20% of receipients of tax credits, ending Child Trust fund, cap of £400 on pay increases in public sector for the next 2 years, no replacement of Trident. 10% tax on profit of banks. Called Conservatives "waste" as "mythical".


VERDICT: debatable - no clear winner



Round 6: Armed Forces Improvements


Labour: increased spending on equipment. Change of taliban tactics may be the reason why certain equipment was not suitable for parts of the warzone. Supports Trident.

Conservative: Fundamental defence review - equipment, pay etc. Supports upgrade of Trident.

Liberal: change of priorities - give proper pay, proper/better equipment - do this by cutting out spending elsewhere that isn't being spent properly (Trident). Supports review of Defence.


VERDICT: Conservative (narrowly)




Round 7: HEALTH



Labour: Support home visits, personal patient garauntee - see specialists in 2 weeks, diagnosis in 1 week etc.

Conservative: NHS budget will increase each year, cancer drugs available to people who need them, Cancer Drugs Fund

Liberal: Priorities are wrong - more managers when departments are closing like maternity and A&E, wants to turn it on its head. Strategic health authorities stripped away and use that money for frontline NHS services. Tax relief on pension contribution. First £10,000


VERDICT: Liberal Democrats



Round 8: Looking after the elderly

Labour: support Urgent Needs Care - staying at home for free, if in old peoples home for 2 yrs + free medical care from then onwards, garaunteed that needs will be met in the long term. More measures for respite care.

Conservatives: Save £8000 by 65 garauntee elderly care will be free.

Liberal Democrats: money put aside by government for respite care to be given to carers - week off.

VERDICT: Labour

CLOSING STATEMENT

Labour: Avoiding the mistakes of 30s and 80s - unemployment up for 5 years after recession. Public funding maintained. NI tax is important to maintain police force, schools etc.

Conservative: Cut "waste" of 6 billion.

Liberal Democrats: Alternative to two old parties.

VERDICT: Inconclusive

post to be continued...

Killed in a Chicken Shop: Agnes Sina-Inakoju

How many of us have been in Chicken shops to stop for a bite to eat? Routine right? That is what 16-year-old Agnes Sina-Inakoju was doing on Wednesday 13th April before she was gunned down by two mindless youths dressed in black in Hoxton, East London.

Police say that they do not believe she was the target which makes the story even more tragic.

Gun crime in the UK, particularly in London is just getting stupid. The victims are getting younger and younger. Where does the solution lie? What will it take for these people who carry guns to drop their weapons. Everytime i hear another shooting or stabbing, particularly when it involves young people, it makes me wonder if I am in a Western movie. This is not the age of Cowboys and horses and we are certainly not in America so why do such situations persist?

The answer lies in the mindset of these people who think it is "ok" to carry guns and knives. But let us take a step-back and realy think about it. What conditions the mindset of these people - society. We must look at one another to find the real solution to gun and knife crime. What is it that makes these people think it is alright to carry such weapons. Is it the media? Music? Videos? Parents? Schools? To be honest it is everything. Everything plays a part when it comes to the developing youths mindset. The youth are very impressionable. The slightest influence can trigger a wave of ideologies and beliefs working together like a machine to create what potentially be a distorted ideology e.g. the fact that they must carry a knife or a gun.

I think society has become selfish. People no longer work as a community but as individuals so because of this people ultimately only think about themselves. Even within a family setting. With this in mind, why does it surprise us that another teenager has been killed in London because of another selfish act committed by another.

I sincerely offer my condolences to Agnes' family in this hard time. Simultaneously, I ask people to think about this death that has occurred. Why has there been another number added to the statistic of gun crime in the Black community? I'd love to know your thoughts.

Fum Fum

BBC 2's Welcome To Lagos

I've just finished watching BBC 2's Welcome To Lagos.

I have mixed feelings if I am honest. Part of me feels that they portrayed the spirit of Nigeria very well in the first part of this 3-part documentary. I mean in the sense that they portrayed Nigerians to be hard working, ambitious, always striving to do better. On the other hand, why is it that the BBC choose to do a documentary on the most appalling part of Lagos - a dump.

Did they purposefully choose not to do a documentary on the parts of Lagos that are arguably just as good if not better than places in the UK. Did they choose to ignore the sky scrapers that one can see in V.I, the shopping malls, the HUMONGOUS houses that can be seen on the island of Ikoyi? Well, it begs the question.

To be honest, out of the two views on this documentary, my heart chooses the former. I do sense that they portrayed Nigerians to have the spirit of making the best of any situation. Yes, being proud to work in a dump does not paint Nigerians in the best light. However, I do believe that it is easy to focus on the negative in such a documentary and to lose focus of the reason why they chose to commission the documentary at all. Was it to portray just how bad Lagos is? Or was it to show that despite the situation Nigerians can always rise above their surroundings. Think about it. If this was only about the squalid conditions of Lagos, why would they show "Slender's" other lifestyle as a potential recording artist - as well as his steps to achieving such a title.

Let's face facts, the majority of people in Lagos do not live like those in Ikoyi. Although the lowest form of lifestyle in Lagos, what can be seen in that documentary is real and is the case for many Lagotians - even in this day and age.

Have a look. Form an opinion of your own. I would love to hear what you think about this documentary. Check it out on iplayer www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer. Type in "Welcome to Lagos" in the search bar.

B-ELECTION 2010 (The Young Black Vote): LIVE TELEVISION DEBATE

So tonight is the night... the first political Live Television debate. Well overdue in my opinion. If there is one thing that i agree on with David Cameron it's that this should have happened ages ago! He's right! America does it, France do it etc. So howcome the UK haven't followed fashion. Particularly as our political ideology is so "murky". We the general public generally cannot say for certain what each party stands for - we cannot determine what separates the Labours from the Conservatives.

Well tonight is the night where hopefully we shall receive some clear cut answers - although i doubt that very much. We're very good at PR in this country and being politically correct. Isn't it that they say it was really Alaistar Campbell who won the 1997 General Election for Labour?... well.... i'll leave that open for discussion.

These are the key topics I hope to see debated and raised in tonights live debate.

• Immigration
• Education - particularly University tuition fees
• NHS - staff pay and quality of service
• Tax - who should get taxed the most
• The War in Afghanistan - whether we should pull out or not
• The State Benefit System - too much leniency?

There are probably more I can think of but these are the key topics i hope are discussed. How do you think these 6 topics are related to the Young Black voter if at all? Let me know your thoughts on tonights debate.

Fum Fum

"B-ELECTION" 2010 (The Young Black People's Vote)

BELECTION 2010 - The Young Black Vote

In this blog i aim to give a different angle to the General Election 2010. I specifically wish to discuss the main parties manifestos and pledges in relation to how this will benefit or be a detriment to Young Black People in this country.

Young Black People are incredibly impressionable but at the same time have a high influence on those around them. So surely, isn't it important that such a niche part of society have their voices heard in the coming General Election.

You can categorise me as a "Young Black Person". I am a Black 21-year-old female of Nigerian Origin living in the suburbs of Kent but grew up in South East London. Being a first-generation black briton i consider myself one of many pioneers. I am a mix of cultures - western civilisation with African traditions.

Voting is important for me because not only am I exercising a right that people before me have fought and died for but because I use my vote as my voice. A voice that refuses to be dumbed down by current social prejudices.

In this blog I will be voicing my opinions about the coming election as well as discussing other Young Black people's views about it. They will range from the uncaring attitude towards politics to voting for the BNP!

Exactly 3 weeks today till the election... here goes...


Fum Fum